UniCarrier adds second factory-owned dealership

UniCarriers Americas Corp., Marengo, Illinois, a maker of forklifts and other material handling equipment, has acquired dealership Capital Equipment & Handling Inc., Hartland, Wisconsin. The acquisition was finalized March 2, 2015, and terms of the transaction have not been disclosed.

Capital Equipment & Handling, founded in 1984, provides a selection of material handling and floor maintenance equipment to southern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The company has approximately 85 employees and has been an authorized dealer of UniCarriers Americas or one of its predecessor companies for more than 30 years.

UniCarriers, created in 2012, encompasses five brands, some of them with much deeper roots, including Nissan Forklift, TCM, Atlet, Barrett and UniCarriers.

“Capital Equipment & Handling is a well-respected material handling dealership with a proven track record of strong sales performance and customer-focused support that has historically delivered superior growth and customer retention,” says Anthony Salgado, president of UniCarriers Americas. “We are pleased with the opportunities this alliance offers for the future of our businesses.”

UniCarriers acquired its first factory-owned dealership, New England Industrial Truck, Woburn, Massachusetts, in 2014.

“With the acquisition of our second retail business, we continue our plans to use factory-owned stores as one of several tools to strengthen our distribution network and complement our existing independent dealer partners,” says Salgado. “Through future investments like these, we intend to promote the value of the UniCarriers brand while providing UCA’s growing multilocation customer base with consistent and value-driven national service and support.”

In 2014 UniCarriers Americas also expanded its Marengo headquarters campus with a 120,000-square-foot manufacturing annex and grew its product development department by 46 percent.